So this one has been on my list for a while and I finally got around to downloading it and reading it. James Rollins has become an author that I have really enjoyed reading and this book would fall in line as well. The main story here is that there is a secret sect trying to find history that has been lost for centuries. This group, the Dragons Court, prides themselves on knowing everything there is to know about the past as they feel this is where the true power comes from, knowledge. They have run across some old manuscripts they stole that allude to a power that has been lost for centuries and will do anything to get it. The Vatican is the main location for most of this story but it does revolve around the Mediterranean area. A special US forces team is brought in with the help of the Vatican to procure this information before the Dragon’s Court can get a hold of it. One thing I really like about this book is at the end James Rollins goes through the what is fact and what is fiction and also gives some references he had for the writing of the book. I am a big fan of these half true fictions and find them fun to read. I am also a big fan of how James Rollins ends his books as they are always page turners in the end and have a good conclusion. Of the James Rollins books I have read so far I would say this is my least favorite, but still a very good book. I just found the history a little hard to follow but I did enjoy the book.
Category: Miscellaneous
This book came to me via a visit to Barnes and Noble as one of the new books to the market. It looked interesting so of course I downloaded it and went to my friendly Kindle for the read. The story with this book is writing in first person from a Sniper in the US Army that is working in Saudi Arabia. There is a huge coup going on and in the mists of it we find out that Saudi Arabia has 5 nuclear weapons. At the head of the coup is Kyle’s (the sniper) arch enemy that he tried to kill in previous battle. This book also brings in a few other countries to play in the game like China that might be interested in Saudi Arabia’s resources. It was a quick read and I thought well written, however the characters were not as multi-dimensional or developed as I would have liked I did enjoy this book and think if you are looking for a good sniper novel this might be a good choice for you. As I mentioned I enjoy books that boarder on reality with a little bit of fun in them. I found this book to be pretty predictive in its moves and characters.
Well not that I have started spending a lot more time at home and in my home office I decided that I needed to take a new look at the office chair I was using. Previously I had the Costco ‘sofa’ office chair. Actually that was a decent chair and held up over time very well. It’s a great chair for sitting in for about an hour, it is not a great chair for sitting in after a long period of time. I found that I would get a little sore and restless in the chair after a few hours. So I went around to all the stores checking out some mesh back type chairs, but came up empty as most of the chairs they had were super cheap looking. I am a fan of these ‘task’ or ‘executive’ chairs because they tend to me a little more comfortable and have more adjustments. With the Costco chair I was stuck with just the typical up and down adjustment to height. Being 6 foot 2 I wanted to be able to adjust the seat pan depth and move the back up and down and wanted an ability to adjust the arms.
Well one thing to consider when looking at chairs is the price. Most of these chairs with those adjustments are in the $1,000+ range, I was thinking about spending that but turned to Craigslist as I figured there would be someone who wanted to be getting rid of those chairs for a cheaper price. That is how I came on the Ergohuman chair. The chair is for sale on Amazon for $607 and I was able to get a hold of it for $300 and barely used. I find that this chair is way more comfortable and allows for much more breathing room than the Costco chair due to its mesh lining. The arm resets move up and down and also swivel to the inside which makes it comfortable for typing. Now that I can move them up and down I can actually sit close to my desk as I can put the armrests above the desk rather than below which make a nice rest for typing. The back has really nice support and is comfortable on the lower back. Also the chair is super heavy and feels very sturdy. I can adjust the seat pan depth which is nice so now my legs are a little more supported. And the height adjustment is great and lets me sit exactly where I want to with all my other adjustments.
Going into issues with the chair I have only one. It is that when you recline, when the recline is unlocked, it does feel a little bit fast like its going to tip over so you have to be careful with that one. At one of my offices I managed to flip over backwards in an Aeron Chair, which is one reason I refuse to get those chair mats I think it makes things way to slick. Other than that it’s a whole lot more comfortable to be sitting in this chair for many hours while working from home and I would suggest the chair with no reservations. Thanks to Craigslist I managed to get this at a reasonable price, with all the companies that are having issues now office furniture is pretty easy to find and I might have to keep an eye out for a new desk next!
This was an awesome book and a quick read as I had a big problem putting it down. This is my second James Rollins book and what can I say I am now a full fledged fan! The story line starts out with a solar eclipse that triggers a giant earthquake that levels multiple continents and Air Force One disappears into the Pacific Ocean. The main character Jack, a retired Navy Seal is brought in to help search for Air Force One with his salvage ship as he is retired and spends his time treasure hunting. Jack ends up getting dragged into a giant conspiracy and needs to find out the cause for the earth quakes. This book has some great character development and I am really a fan of the authors style of writing. It does end a little abruptly but I think it works in this case. I look forward to reading another James Rollins book in the near future!
I decided I wanted to pick up a jet book as it has been a while (HAWX) since I have read something in that genre. This was little interesting because it does fall on the serious side of being in the military and how it can weigh on a pilots mind. This book is about the Vietnam war and follows a squadron of A-6 Intruders (Navy) as they go on their nightly bombing runs. In the beginning of the book the main character’s bombardier dies in action, you do not really get to know this person and have no feelings for this man dieing and then the rest of the book is sort of based on that vendetta towards the Vietnamese for killing him. Perhaps if there was an extra chapter or two where you got to know the bombardier it would have been a little more impactful. The book really picks up on intensity towards the end and then it just ends, I cannot remember reading a book that just ends so quickly! It was a good break but a little too serious for me and a little depressing but still a good read. I just found out this was made into a movie and looked at the cast and had a laugh and thought they did a good job casting the roles.
Ah yes my good friend Nina (Lara Croft) and her bodyguard/husband Chase are back for another fun adventure. I wanted to read this book after watching the show Chasing Mummies because it reminded me how much I enjoy these types of stories. Also this one was a little bit more lighter than the Freedom book I finished right before this that was very complex and a great read but I wanted something I could laugh at and enjoy and this was a great pick. In this adventure they are on the search for Excalibur, King Author’s sward from the sward in the stone. It seems that this sward contains special materials that would be helpful in building, what else, a weapon of mass destruction. Good news is the Russians are the bad guys and Chase and Nina are out to stop them. Once again a great read and I really like Andy’s style of writing and plan on mixing in and out his books with others. Not too sure what I think of the development of the characters into a husband and wife relationship I like it better when they just met but it actually didn’t effect the plot as much as I thought it would. Either way still a great read and highly recommended!
So this book came on my radar because of HAWX, I really liked the idea of another military fighter type book and this was a good choice. The odd thing while going through my mental list of all the books I have read I almost forgot about this one. So maybe that says something about the book, or maybe I am getting old and having a hard time remembering things! Anyways this book is about all the governments that hate the US, and there are a lot of them, conspiring to start a war on us without us knowing it was them. They manage to commandeer a bunch of drone aircraft and plan on using them to reek havoc on the US. This was a good read and once again made me a little worried about our national security and how easy something like this would be able to actually do. I look forward to more books from this author to fill a hole that Tom Clancy might have left wide open. Once again I will mention how worried I was about something like this actually happening…
I like to keep a record of everything we have growing in our yard so we can remember what was planted. Here are the recent additions to the front yard, they are all perennial flowers and of course for me and Laura low maintenance!
White Flowers: Shasta Daisy
Purple Flowers: Magnus Echinacea
Yellow Flowers: Coneflower Goldsturn
So when we bought this house we knew that we were going to be changing the fireplace because it was a little dated and dark to say the least. Well after getting all the wood floors done we were able to focus on changing the fireplace for the better. We did travertine tile on the bottom and then had a contractor help us out with the drywall on top. It is amazing how much this changed the room and well worth the value. It has lightend up the room and made it a much softer atmosphere for the room! We finished it just in time for my graduation party! Like 3 days before the party, so not much time to spare…
Well last year we added a bunch of new landscape and I wanted to add some pictures that would compare year over year growth so the slide show you see below is for 2010 growing season. I was really impressed with how much larger our bushes are now in the front!
